Jimmy Howard's close call is just a blur

Jimmy Howard was back in goal Thursday night against St. Louis. Here, the Los Angeles Kings celebrate the game-tying goal by defenseman Alec Martinez (27) on Howard (35) during the third period of a game in Detroit earlier this season. (AP Photo)

Howard was accidently kicked in the face by a skate at practice last Monday. The skate lifted his helmet and hit him on his left jaw.

“I started looking right away,” Howard said Thursday. “I was more scared than anything else coming that close to a skate blade. It was just one of those freak things.”

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Howard, who continued to practice after the incident, even had test for a concussion afterwards and those results came back negative.

However, the next day Howard left midway through the first period of the Wings’ overtime loss to Nashville with blurred vision.

“Everything was blurry and being a goalie that’s not a good combination,” Howard said. “They don’t think (Monday’s incident) had really anything to do with it. I had a CAT scan the other day and nothing showed up. I’m fortunate.”

Howard began having trouble seeing when the Wings went on the power play for the first time against the Predators.

“I was trying to track down the puck in the other end and I realized I didn’t have that great vision on it,” Howard said. “Then I started looking around and it was like everything was sort of a blur.

“I felt fine at the pre-game skate, warmups and then for some reason I don’t know,” Howard added. “I knew I wouldn’t be helping the guys if I stayed out there.”

Howard said something like that has never happened to him before.

“It lasted pretty much the rest of the night,” Howard said of his blurred vision.

On Wednesday he had a number of tests done at the Detroit Medical Center. He also saw an optometrist.

“Nothing came back out of the normal,” Howard said. “Everything’s back to normal.”

Mursak returns

Jan Mursak returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a collar bone injury in the Wings’ season opener.

“For Murs to be real good we need him to be on the forecheck, to be relentless,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “He’s got a great shot. He’s got to shoot the puck and he’s got to be real good defensively, good on the wall and good decision-making at their blue line.”

Mursak, who was taken in the sixth round of the 2006 draft by the Wings, started on a line with Tomas Tatar and Joakim Andersson.

Mursak hasn’t had any luck with injuries over the last two seasons. Last year he broke his ankle late in the preseason.

“It hasn’t been fun,” Mursak said. “I’m just trying to stay positive. Some days I’m a little more frustrated than others, but hopefully that’s the end of the injuries. Hopefully I can keep playing here without being hurt.”

Ins and outs

Forward Johan Franzen (hip flexor) hopes to return by this weekend.

“They’re going to do an ultrasound (Thursday) to see if it’s healed or it it’s starting to heal,” Franzen said. “I’ve been pushing real hard the last (few) days. It feels better to me, definitely. As long as I can skate hard I’m real happy.”

Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo thought he would have been back by now from his injured shoulder, he suffered in the season opener.

“I thought I’d be in a better position at this point, but for some reason it’s not,” Colaiacovo said. “It could be any day right now, but I really don’t have an idea when. I wish I had an answer, wish I had a clearer picture of it but I’m at a point right now where it’s allowing me to do more, the strength is continuing to get better every day, and that’s what I’m focusing on, to continue to make those strides.”